May Coords Roundup

The big question on everyone’s minds (not really) is whether I managed to wear all the remaining pieces that were last worn in 2019 to make it a full circle in 6 months.

So, did I? You’ll have to keep reading to find out!

Also, I am very, very sorry about the font. Blogger decided to completely screw all formatting and would not let me change it at all.
[EDIT] Big thank you to Laura Ribeiro for helping me fix this. You are an angel!

 

*~*~*

Coord 1: Sailor Ouji

| Metamorphose Wizarding Lesson trousers | Fi.n.t. cutsew | Hell Bunny cardigan | Innocent World Anchor OTKs | Innocent World Original Crown Tassel 2-way clip | offbrand beret and shoes |

I don't know why this derpy selfie is my favourite, it just is.

Double the sailor collar, double the fanciness!

Man Meet may have been postponed until sometime in the future, but I’ve been in the mood for more ouji in my life anyway. I’ve bought some pieces to expand that side of my wardrobe and feel like I have a direction of where I want it to go. A direction which is very different from this outfit, mind you. This is very casual and cute, leaning on the sweeter side, yet despite it being pretty opposite to what I want to do with ouji, I still loved wearing this look. It felt very me, just a bit more boyish. A friend made a comment about exchanging rum for a kabedon and somehow that made me think about recreating the famous V-Day kiss photo, but with ouji and lolita. Not sure how responsible or even doable that is (right now the answer is: not at all), but with a consenting photoshoot partner it could be a fun artistic project. But going back to the coord, this was so easy to wear that I completely see myself wearing this again. A beach photoshoot might be a bit much, but I don’t live far from the quays, so that could work?

>

*~*~*~*

Coord 2: Remote Twinning no 4

| Innocent World Georges Rose JSK | Axes Femme blouse | Innocent World Diamond Rose OTKs | Sosic Shop heels | Cutie Creator headdress | offbrand jewellery | Dalao Home wig |

My head plus the wig was apparently too much for this headband.

The Auryn got so much positive response on Instagram, I love to have so many geeky people in my circles!

I can’t show you the actual second coord of May that I wore, because I simply kept it on after filming for June’s Around Your Wardrobe in 30 Coordinates post. Just know that there was one and it even managed to be part of a meetup, as we had a virtual meet attempting to watch Kamikaze Girls (technology was against us, but we still stayed up just to chat which was equally lovely, I miss those people so much!). The outfit actually pictured above is from another bit of remote twinning. After I shared my Easter coord on Instagram, @sakura_sugiyami messaged me saying that she has the same dress and whether I’d like to twin. My answer to “would you like to twin” is always yes, so after we worked out what else we have that’s similar enough, we put the outfits together - then procrastinated before actually photographing them. Since I was going to film for AYWi30C, I took advantage of already having pretty neutral makeup on and slipped into this first. Had I been putting a coord with this dress and blouse on my own, I’d take it in aslightly different direction, so I’m glad that I got to twin it like this because it’s not a look I would put together myself.

*~*~*~*

Coord 3: More Modlita

| HeartE Tartan JSK | vintage jewellery | Dalao Home half-wig | everything else is offbrand |

A more Brigitte Bardot kind of 60s makeup than the previous modlita coord. I probably could've gone even heavier with the mascara.

I thought that I'd be keeping this necklace as a memento and a sentimental piece, so to be able to wear it makes it even more special to me.

Sharing May’s AYWi30C post put me back on a hype for more 60s looks. I went through my wardrobe spreadsheet to see what other dresses could work with this and this tartan JSK from HeartE jumped out at me. It’s another one that’s a bit shorter, as well as a bit smaller, than lolita typically is - which makes it ideal for 60s retro lolita. Whether this actually is lolita or just 60s-inspired look is still up for debate, but I don’t care. This outfit made me feel incredibly happy, so even though all I did was work, I put on some more rock’n’roll Elton John and enjoyed life for a bit. This could also be the level of makeup that I could see myself doing more often, maybe even for work too, it’s just a tonne of mascara, some lipgloss, and a bit of CC cream with a touch of cream blush for good measure. Piling that mascara took up the most time, the rest was done and ready in under 5 minutes, which is always great. Yeah, I’m totally reusing that next time I feel like makeup needs to happen, but I can’t really be bothered to do any.

*~*~*~*

Coord 4: Larme Lolita

| Angelic Pretty Diner Doll JSK | Lazy Oaf top | Angelic Pretty Cute Ribbon wrist cuffs | Cutie Creator tights | Metamorphose shoes | Pink Up Fanny’s Dressing Table hair clip | Madillustration Powder Puff brooch | Axes Femme earrings | Rose Marie Seoir necklace | Claire’s Accessories hair clips | Twinkle Kitty Boutique ring | Star Glazed Delights ring | Ruby Rose 2-way clip | Dalao Home wig |

What can I say, I was really feeling this entire mood!

Like, really feeling it! Doing this look wiped out all my energy, but I was still happy that I at least looked cute whilst tired.

R.I.P. Ruby Rose, you were a great gyaru accessory brand that I wish I had bought more from when I could.

At some point I felt inspired to mess around with my clothes and tried to come up with a new way to wear Diner Doll. What I put together wasn’t quite clicking into place, but luckily I shared that on Instagram and the people there have helpfully pointed out what I was missing. With their suggestions I found the direction and inspiration I needed, and this is the result. Larme-kei may be fake and the magazine is on hiatus waiting to re-start publishing with a new company, nonetheless it’s a look and an interpretation of femininity that I really enjoy and want to do more often (but again am too lazy to put the effort in). Between this and modlita I’m realising how much blending lolita fashion with other styles excites me, it’s a great way to experiment with both, try new things and push your creativity. So even though just putting this on somehow turned out to be quite tiring (it’s lockdown, y’all, energy is a scarce resource), I am glad that I was able to wear it for my Bank Holiday Friday at home.

*~*~*~*

Coord 5: Virtual Meetup

| BtSSB Full of Stars “Bright Starry Night” JSK II | Lady Sloth Glitter Mesh blouse | Angelic Pretty Rose Princess wrist cuffs | AatP Sheherazade headdress | Boguta underskirt | Angelic Pretty Brigitte Regimen OTKs | Innocent World shoes | vintage necklace | offbrand earrings |

I'm tempted to cut off the ribbons off this headdress, since I'm not a fan of how ribbons tied under my chin look. It'd make this so much easier to wear if I replaced that with some clip-on combs or something.

And I really am considering getting more rectangle headdresses similar to this one.

Speaking of energy, literally the next day I was hosting a virtual meetup for my comm. So even though it was a chill affair, as we just played some Cards Against Lolitas and chatted, given how often I’m able to wear casual frills nowadays, I treated this like any other meetup and dressed a bit more up. It’s not exactly a groundbreaking coord, but not everything needs to be novel and unique. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, and wine and gold is a trusted classic. Though I will say that had this been a proper meetup outside and all, I probably would’ve put a tad more effort into my hair. Since it was a staying at home affair, I picked my battles and put my energy into the clothes, even going as far as wearing a corset. Side note: working from home without a proper setup has been awful for my back, so I started wearing my cheap corset for some extra back support. Whilst it’s not a miracle, it does a good enough job in helping me keep better posture and not give myself such an awful backache every day. Because of this I’ve gotten used to wearing a corset more regularly and for shorter periods of time will happily lace it tighter for the look - like in Coord 9 here. But before anyone thinks that wearing a corset as shapewear is a necessity for lolita or that or thinks that this is what I actually look like - it’s not and I don’t. I wish my waist was this snatched, but I am very lazy and would rather put myself through the short-term discomfort of a tightly laced corset than the long-term tiring investment of actually getting in shape. Pretty much every coord you will see from this point onward will be with a corset underneath, so please be aware of that. This is my disclaimer for transparency and to stop anyone feeling bad about their own bodies.

*~*~*~*

Coord 6: The Unseasonal Print

| Lady Sloth Winter Spices skirt and necklace | Axes Femme cutsew | Angelic Pretty Rose Lace Pattern OTKs | Haruhi Clover headbow | offbrand shoes |

Back to my usual hair and makeup deal for weekday looks.

I am so glad I bought the matching necklace, it really adds to the charm of this print.

Regardless of whether I made it through all of my pieces by the end of May or not, I was determined to have one coord with this skirt. It’s my only truly seasonal piece and although it could still pass in other months thanks to basically being food-themed, I’ve never before had a chance to wear it outside of December. As the weather cooled down, this was the perfect opportunity. And I actually enjoyed this outfit a lot more than I thought I would, considering how it’s a casual coord. The more muted shades of red and pink work well together and I like how the floral socks tie in with the flowers at the neckline. So it might actually turn out to be a look that I’d rewear? We’ll see how that goes. For now I’m just very happy that I was able to tick that mini-goal off my list and enjoyed the outfit so much.

*~*~*~*

Coord 7: Another Virtual Tea Party

| BtSSB Polonaise Brillante JSK | Cutie Creator hat with the JSK waist bow | Mademoiselle Boutique necklace | handmade bracelets | everything else is offbrand |

To me this was a casual look with this dress - which came as a surprise to some. But I count that in terms of how much time and energy I have to spend getting ready.

Adding waist bows to hats will be my next go-to trick, just watch!

Between this outfit and the previous one a whole 5 days have passed, but it felt like an eternity. The things lockdown does to our perception of time, as well as normalising our wearing of frills. I did have every intention to wear lolita the day before, but energy was simply not forthcoming. By that point I was also pretty much out of casual, comfortable pieces and left with my fancy ones, so it was safer to stay in pyjamas whilst I cleaned my flat.

However, the day after I had both a virtual tea party and a video filming with Joelle lined up, so frilling up was definitely on the cards! Partly inspired by the coordinate from the Lolita Blog Carnival prompt the day before and partly in an attempt to bring back the spirit of warm weather, I styled Polonaise Brillante in a simple country way. This was the dress I would’ve been wearing to The Imperial Garden event in Brussels, but I decided to save that coord for another time. I had also realised that basically every idea that I have for this dress is very OTT and that wearing it in simpler ways doesn’t detract from its beauty nor make the coord any lesser. I did order a pair of short floral socks way back when that I probably would’ve liked a bit better with this, but that was an AliExpress purchase and those take a while without a pandemic limiting international shipments, so I’ll be happy if they simply arrive one day. For now I had fun filming with Joelle (no idea when that video will be out, but I am still so excited about it, we made something pretty amazing) and enjoyed hanging out with my comm via Zoom once more. A virtual tea party, no added games or activities, was exactly what I needed and I do want to take part in more of those. I’m even thinking about hosting one for ILD, but I’m not sure how well this would work with more people, so I’ll see how things go.

*~*~*~*

Coord 8: Casual Goth

| Haenuli Just One Bite JSK | Axes Femme cutsew | Cutie Creator headdress | Promised Land Creations earrings | offbrand tights and shoes |

I tried to get at least a glimpse of the earrings in shot.

Thank you, Google Photos built-in photo editor, for allowing me to show some of those details.

The next day, since I had to go out for a few essentials anyway, I decided that I might as well wear something nicer. The sort of “local goth goes out to buy bread” thing. As such there isn’t much to this outfit, though I feel that between the lace tights, the jacquard JSK and the ribbed cutsew there are enough textures to still make this interesting. I actually forgot that this dress is very comfortable too. By that point I’ve been wearing a steel boned corset for back support for over a month as I work from home and remembering that this JSK has a boned bodice, I put off wearing it. However, that boning is plastic, not steel, which is there more to preserve the bodice shape rather than mould your body into a shape. So it was comfortable enough to lounge around in once I got back from my (sadly less successful than expected) grocery trip.

*~*~*~*

Coord 9: More Larme Than Lolita

| Bodyline L380 skirt | Vivienne Westwood x Melissa Anglomania shoes | Snag Tights White Russian fishnets | Axes Femme earrings | Promised Land Creations necklace | offbrand bracelet and hair clip |

How are people doing those big winged eyeliners? I find that so haaaard!

An aesthetic shot of all the jewellery from this coord.

Having recently obtained white fishnet tights, I really wanted to wear them. This idea was already leaning more larme-kei, so when I looked through the tops that aren’t on my wardrobe spreadsheet, this one drew me in and sealed the deal. I was really feeling this look, even though big eyeliner is a lot harder than it seems. And I feel like by not being traditionally lolita it becomes so much more wearable! Yes, I’d still attract attention if I ventured out in this, but not necessarily of the “what’s the occasion” kind. My partner already requested that I re-wear this for date night at one point, so the chances of me re-wearing this are high.

*~*~*~*

Coord 10: Elegant Lady

| Haenuli Lovely Memories JSK | offbrand blouse | Innocent World Original Lace Millefeuille bolero | Sosic Shop heels | vintage hat | offbrand tights and jewellery |

God, I love this hat (and this style of hats) so much!

Like REALLY love it! Best tenner I ever spent in my life!

Whilst not quite the same as the coord put together for me by Molly Metaphora, it basically uses her idea as bass. The only change I made was the blouse and necklace, as well as added a bolero because it wasn’t quite that warm. I love how simple this outfit is, it really lets the lace on the JSK take centre stage. No distractions with excessive jewellery, extra patterns or fancy blouses, just classic elegance. This coord will end up featuring in three of my videos, as it was a filming heavy day. It was supposed to be just two videos, but an opportunity came that I could not ignore. So if you follow me on YouTube, look out for those.

*~*~*~*

Coord 11: Grey and… wine?

| Angelic Pretty Flower Garden JSK and hair clip (actually a waist bow) | Haenuli x I Do Declare blouse | Angelic Pretty Rose Lace Pattern OTKs | Irregular Choice Earl Grey shoes | Peppermint Fox Floral Tea brooch |

This is one of my favourite ways to wear a bow in your hair, it's just so hard to photograph so that so it shows!

Peppermint Fox has such beautiful brooches that my heart wants more. But I am trying to be good and curb my brooch spending. With the emphasis on 'trying'...

I’ll be honest, this is not a coord I ever expected to put together - or for it to work this well. It’s a result of leaving my outfit planning to the last minute the evening before. My brain thought how nice it’d be if I could make a coord to match these dark ribbons and what a shame that I don’t have anything else in that coord. And then my eyes landed on this blouse. Because it’s mesh, the colour is actually not as saturated when worn, since my skin is showing through. Could it actually work as a substitute for that dark pink? Turns out that yes, almost. Well enough for me to roll with the idea. The shoes, as always when they’re involved, only made an appearance for the photo. I’m growing more and more in love with this hairstyle and accessory combo. A big bow at the back is not the best for outfit pictures, but it’s such a feminine and romantic look that gives me a lot of animated princess realness (from Ariel to Anastasia).

That afternoon I joined a virtual tea party for people on the Lolita Amino hosted by @fairytaleprince. This was the second one and as much as I wanted to join the previous one the week before, it was at the same time as my friend’s birthday one. It was just fantastic, everyone was super lovely (one person turned out to even be incredibly local to me, such a shame that lockdown stops us from having meetups because they’re due to move out as soon as travel restrictions are lifted) and I had a great time chatting with them. This experience helped me understand a little better how a virtual tea party might be a great first meetup for newer lolitas. Although at this point I’m not so bad about meeting new people, particularly new lolitas and oujis, I did feel a little bit nervous beforehand, deep down in my stomach. My worries were more confined to “what if it’s going to be hella awkward”, whereas I imagine new lolitas have that plus potential intimidation by the more experienced ones and worrying whether their outfits are enough, but it was still an insightful glimpse into how having your first meetup from the comfort of your own home might help ease people in and make the community more welcoming/accessible. I fully realise that for all my good will to host virtual meetups post-lockdown, this will be practically very hard due to time limitations, but I really would like to make the effort to do that. Time will tell how it’ll work out.

*~*~*~*

Coord 12: Remote Twinning no 5

| Angelic Pretty Royal Unicorn Switching JSK and headbow | Yilia Lolita blouse | MuFish tights | Irregular Choice Total Freedom shoes | offbrand beret | Brightlele clip-on fringe | unknown indie brand necklace |

I just love this, so I'll indulge in sharing.

Somehow my phone totally overexposed this selfie. I managed to mostly fix it, but it's still hella bright.

Same fate happened to this picture. I guess late afternoon lighting and my phone don't like each other that much?

Technically it wasn’t an outfit I’ve worn-worn, it was on for the pictures and then immediately off, with the pictures taken very quickly after the previous outfit was taken off. When @dodotheextinct mentioned wanting to twin more and feeling odd asking, I jumped in to volunteer. I think her style is super cute and she has a lot of pieces that I admire. We only have Royal Unicorn in common, but were able to put a fun twist on it by trying it out with navy. Which honestly? For all my love of navy, I doubt I’d think of myself, certainly not for a while and not without knowing that my twinning partner is a big navy colourway stan. Our looks went through a few iterations before landing on this. Sadly, my only striped socks are red and white, but I kind of want to put them with this dress at some point anyway to see what happens? And seeing how cute Doanne’s nautical take on this dress looked I really want to try that too! Well, I did try, but I wanted to photograph the look asap and my quick attempt wasn’t clicking into place the way I wanted it to. So yeah, one super fun twinning and I come out with two extra coord ideas to try!

*~*~*~*

At first I thought that April’s roundup had significantly more outfits, but I just checked and May actually isn’t as far behind as I thought. Particularly when we consider how April’s included at least two outfits that were definitely not lolita, whereas everything here is, even when it’s experimental.

Moreover, the answer to the “have I worn every main piece I own in less than half a year” becomes a resounding YES. Though frankly, it’s a mixed bag of reactions. On the one hand I’m proud of this. Wearing clothes isn’t necessarily a grand achievement, but at times when so many opt for pyjamas 24/7 it certainly feels like an accomplishment. Along the way I’ve discovered some new looks and tried fun things which not only sparked joy, but also taught me about what I enjoy most in lolita fashion. (The short answer: experimentation.)

On the other hand it leaves me at a bit of a loss. The continuing lack of events to physically attend and the uncertainty of when social distancing will be safe to end don’t help with that, but it’s a little more than just that. In 2019 tracking when I wore something last helped me plan ahead, leave certain pieces for themed events/coords and then do my best to wear everything else in between. I could simply start over and go down the list again, but I feel like this is a moment to embrace the blank page. I could literally pick anything right now, since no piece was worn more than six months ago. And what better way to truly break pieces out of whatever seasonal rut they may have been in? But having too many choices can be overwhelming to the point of not knowing where to start.

This leaves me considering the following options:

1. Go with the flow and see where my mood takes me;
2. Look for an interesting prompt challenge that wouldn’t put pressure on me to do something every day;
3. Work through the bank of outfits that I’ve been excited about, but haven’t had the chance to wear yet;
4. Use a random number generator to pick my next main piece for me and force myself to do something with that.

Of course I’m massively overthinking this whole thing, I know that. This is what I do: I overthink and overplan things, with the latter at least granting me some inner peace. Not gonna lie, the gambling element of that last one combined with the challenge of having to do something seems kind of exciting, though I think for now I’ll probably just see what happens.

There will be a proper summary of all the coords from the first half of 2020 at the end of June, when it will be a full six months of coords. So this is it for now, have a great weekend and see you next time!